Board committed to striking a balance in SAD 4

To the Editor;

Let’s begin with a summary of SAD 4’s budget process for the 2016-17 school year. Due to declining enrollment (about 570 students) the district receives less money from the state, and local towns are asked to make up that difference. That gives voters the impression that school budgets are dramatically increasing, when actually both defeated proposals from June and July have been lower than last year’s budget. The School Board and the Budget Committee have worked many hours to find savings, while still maintaining the quality of our schools. It is not an easy balance to strike, but the members of the board are committed to do both.

The first budget put before the voters in June was for $7.1 million. It was unpopular due to four teaching positions that had been reduced to half-time, while it cut no admin, and offered them a 2 percent raise. Concerned students and parents rallied to restore at least some of those half-time cuts. Towns saw their local commitment go up by about 11 percent, and the double-digit increase was simply too high for many citizens on fixed incomes. That budget failed by a 3-to-1 margin, and the Budget Committee went back to work.

The budget presented in July was reduced to $6.8 million. The proposed administrative raises were cut, and three admin positions were reduced to part-time. Three of the half-time cuts to teachers remained, justified by the numbers of students anticipated to enroll in those classes. The Learning-4-Life program was cut completely, since it would only serve four students, who could possibly be accommodated by other programming. Additional staffing adjustments had been made through attrition, as some teachers had resigned. While no one wanted to lose experienced teachers, the turnover was typical, and the adjustments still kept our class sizes low-to-average. The increase to the towns was down to about 6 percent on average, which voters had approved in 2015. Many voters and taxpayers even expressed relief that their tax bills had been received and due to other factors like the Homestead Exemption, some had even seen a decrease. Still, the alarm felt by parents over any reduction in staff caused this budget to also be voted down, by a 2-to-1 margin this time, with only Sangerville voting for our school budget to pass.

The Budget Committee then offered the community a survey to give its input, and held two Town Hall meetings to gather information. Overwhelmingly, they were told to keep costs down, keep experienced teachers, and to cut admin wherever possible. The budgets that have been put before voters have both been lower than last year’s. The staff has seen some turnover, but class sizes remain low-to-average. Additional cuts to admin were thoroughly explored, but state mandates and contractual issues meant that further cuts would cost us money. Downsizing our system administration will no doubt be a factor for the future budget cycles, but for the present we will have a full-time superintendent, four-fifths finance director, half-time curriculum coordinator, and the transportation director has been reduced to 220 days by taking off some weeks of the summer.

So what has the Budget Committee recommended, and the Board approved? Our third budget proposal of $6.9 million is still lower than last year’s. It brings back Learning-4-Life as a half-time position, since seven students are now anticipated to need that alternative program. The budget potentially offers additional work for two of the teachers who had been cut to half-time. First, a part-time assistant principal at PCES will help with building coverage since we still have a vacancy for the Special Ed director. Also, coordinating mandatory testing will be done more at the building level, due to the reduction in the curriculum coordinator’s position. Second, an expanded position of activities coordinator would handle not only the needs of our district’s grade 6-12 athletes, but also facilitate some of the scheduling for other extra-curriculars, such as band and chorus concerts, drama club performances, etc. Also, two ed tech positions have been created to assist the Special Ed department, since teachers there are overseeing IEPs and other paperwork that a Special Ed director would normally do.

While two of these new positions fall under admin, they are part of the downsizing that our district is experiencing. Duties and responsibilities are shifting from the central office to the building level. Valued faculty members can remain in the system to work with our students and athletes.

As long as our enrollment declines, we will have to find creative ways to downsize economically, while still providing for our students. Over time duties will shift from the central office to the buildings, and eventually to the classroom teachers, but this does not happen all at once, and will have to occur gradually.

The Budget Committee saw these steps as the best options for the current year, and the board has approved this budget to go before voters at our third District Budget Meeting on Monday, August 29th, at 6 p.m. Please come out to support this budget as we send our students and teachers back to school.

Budget Committee Members
Kasey Knowles, Abbot
Cindy Hoak, Cambridge
Michael Chase, Guilford
Dick Hunt, Guilford
Sue Griffith, Parkman
Jim Bell, Sangerville
Joe Chadbourne, Sangerville
Sarah Brown, Wellington